Fighting for Freedom
by kawaii kokeshi
Summary: A girl scarred by the fire nation refuses to let herself be vulnerable but when she meets a rebellious freedom fighter, will he soften her heart? And what will happen when she meets the fire prince in disguise? JET/OC and maybe ZUKO/OC later. T for safety


**Author's Note: Hello Readers! I've been searching and searching for a Jet fanfiction and the only ones I could find have not been updated for months! **** I'm kinda impatient so I decided to write one myself lol. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it! Hopefully you love Jet just as much as I do ****. I love Zuko too though… **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA. If I did, Mai wouldn't have existed, Jun would have been a main character, and Jet wouldn't have died.**

**Oh! And this is IMPORTANT: The prologue is set two years before the series (a sort of flashback) and the main character (whose name you will find out soon enough) is fourteen years old at this time (which means she'll be 16 when she meets Jet, who's also 16). **

Prologue

I walked aimlessly through the forest, recent events clouding my mind. The greenery around me was overwhelming, an ending sea of unknown, more dead ends and no towns where I could find refuge. I had been wandering for two days. I could still feel the path of tears that had stained my face hours ago. It took all I had to not collapse in a heap right there on the forest floor. Ashes stained my clothes, which had been singed with fire as well. The blistering red mark on the front of my upper thigh still stung although I had received it two days ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stream in the distance. I ran over to it, relieved to find water. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in days, and I was exhausted. I immediately started drinking from the cool water and placed it on the scar that was forming on my thigh. As I did this, I recalled all that had just happened in only a matter of days…

_I stood with my dad as we saw the smoke. Ashes started to rain all around me. I looked up at my dad, and his face was distraught. For the first time in my life, I was scared. I had no idea what we were going to do. My father was always in control. He never seemed to falter. But this was different. This time, we knew who our enemy was, and we knew we would lose. He instantly grabbed my arm and led me back to our house. As he started frantically gathering some supplies in a bag, I panicked._

"_What are you doing?" I asked, frightened._

"_You can't stay here. You need to leave."_

"_What?" I shouted, heartbroken. I barely remembered my mother. She had died years ago. My father was the only family I had left._

"_Please listen to me, Lani. I can't lose you, too," he said as his voice cracked at the end of his sentence. He always told me that I reminded him of mom. I knew it would kill him if he lost his daughter after the grief of losing his wife._

_I nodded my head solemnly, and he handed me the bag he had been packing up. I didn't look in it, but just slung it over my shoulder and looked up at my father._

"_Will I ever see you again?" I asked, tears welling in my eyes._

"_Of course," he said will a small smile, "I promise." And with that, he pulled me close to him and held me tight for a few seconds before whispering, "Run."_

_I had a horrible feeling that he would never be able to keep his promise._

_I was right._

_I ran out our back door, and headed for the forest. Before I could get there, though, a fire nation soldier saw me. I was never so frightened in my entire life. His blood red helmet had a mask that covered his face. The rest of his armor was black and red, and very intimidating. He stopped right in front of me, and I shot a blast of fire at me before I could fully block my body. It singed through the thin green material of my Earth Nation clothing, and the flames licked at the skin on the front of my upper thigh. I cried out in pain. It was unbearable. But I knew I couldn't surrender, not yet. I quickly put out the flames with my hands, and ignored the extreme pain as a ran around the soldier and into the forest. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, tears streaming down my face. I heard him start to chase after me, but I was faster than him. After a short time, I didn't hear his footsteps anymore. All I heard were the screams of my people behind me as flames devoured the only place I had called home._

As I stared at the water, these thoughts rushing through my head, I just began to realize how much I had been crying. I shook my head. I couldn't fall apart like this. Not already, not after all my father had done to keep me safe, after he had sacrificed his safety, and possibly life, for me. I sobbed at this last thought. No. I couldn't be weak. I wouldn't cry. The pain that all the people of my village suffered was much worse than anything I could feel, and I wouldn't feel bad for myself. It wasn't right. I needed to carry on.

That was the day I promised that I would not cry again, and that I would survive. I swallowed my tears, filled the canteen I had, and placed it in my backpack. I got up from where I was sitting on the ground, and walked downstream, hoping to find a town where I could stay.

**Please review! (No flames, please!) ^_^**


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